Sound Off

Sound off

March 06, 1992

Thursday's question: Should a minor's parents be told before she has an abortion?

YES: 93

Not only should one parent be notified, but at least one parent should be required to give permission. ... No other operation in the world is done without parental consent on a minor. This is major surgery and a child's life is in danger. As a matter of fact, two children. ... It's a sad day when a child has to have parents' permission to be given an aspirin but doesn't have to have permission to murder a child. ... If I'm responsible for them in every other facet of life, I'm responsible in this one, too. ... The minor is the one who should be "notified" early in life about sin, sex and the horrible consequences of disobedience. ... A girl that age just can't make that decision on her own.

NO: 41

If she felt she could trust her parents to help her in her time of need, she would tell them. ... She's probably not going to have a legal abortion if she knows that her parents are going to be notified. ... Too many of these young ones are having kids, they're not married, barely through their second year of high school, and they're going to wind up on welfare. It's costing us all just so much money, and it's ruining the kids' lives. Let them have an abortion, encourage them. ... If we have to notify the girl's parents, we should have to tell the boy's parents ... I'm afraid we'll go back to the days of coat hangers, and young girls losing their lives because they're afraid to tell their parents.